Perfect misdirection.Loved it. ( )

between 2.5 and 3 stars. i definitely didn't see that ending/solution coming, not by a mile. this was a very well done mystery and a nicely hidden solution. that part was really fun. but i felt very removed from it all, and so not as engaged in the action as i'd like to have been. what was harder for me was picturing almost any of what was happening at any important moment, and (this is all on me) but for some reason i had trouble keeping track of the people when sometimes they were referred to by their last names and sometimes by their first names. so that made it harder for me to follow, but the mystery here really is great. what a trick ending. ( )

A fun read. Really has the flavor of the classic British cozy mysteries. Good detective. Clever solution. I look forward to finding more Elizabeth Daly. ( )

Henry Gamadge came to the seaside resort for a little golf and relaxation. Instead, he found himself involved in a suspicious death of a young man who had come into his inheritance just shortly before his death. Too bad for the young man but it may be good for one branch of the family. That fortune may pass to them.

How did the young invalided man wind up at the base of a cliff? Who among the legatees could have caused his death? A person who has been forced to live a very sheltered life, on the brink of his possible independence is suddenly denied it. Has his protective family been waiting for this moment?

Gamadge may be a known authority on rare manuscripts, but he is also known for his amateur sleuthing. This is a case that puts those talents to the test.

Elizabeth Daly is one of the Golden Age writers and does a good job of creating puzzles and their solutions. She only wrote sixteen Gamadge books and I plan to read them all. She is up there with Christie and Sayers. ( )

This book was my first experience with Henry Gamadge, and I like it.
A good story (though there is a high body count), intriguing cast of characters (though I did resort to keeping a who's-who list), and a likable amateur detective (one character humorously considers Gamadge a suspect because Gamadge always seems to be there when there's a vital clue or action or conversation).
This, from late in the book, during a conversation between the family lawyer and Gamadge, when Gamadge says something that surprises Ormville, who thought they were on the same page in assessing suspects: Mr. Ormville sat back in his chair and contemplated Gamadge with the air of one who has stroked the house cat, and had his thumb bitten. ( )